by Motoko RichROHNERT PARK, Calif. — In a stark about-face from just a few years ago, school districts have gone from handing out pink slips to scrambling to hire teachers.Read the rest of the story at The New York Times.
Margaret Searle, ASCD author and educator, spent time with Dr. Berger to discuss the field of education and the value the profession of teaching can bring to those young people looking for their career path to emerge.Searle specializes in consulting with districts and schools in the areas of curriculum alignment, differentiated instruction, inclusive education, leadership team development, and training teams to implement Response to Intervention (RTI). She is also as an adjunct professor for Ashland University in Ashland, Ohio.Her teaching experience covers every grade from preschool through 8th in both a general and special education capacity. Her administrative experience has been as a K–12 supervisor in Dayton City Schools as well as a middle school principal in Springfield, Ohio, and an elementary school principal in Toledo, Ohio. She served as an adviser to President George H. W. Bush on elementary and secondary education issues.Searle has also contributed her expertise as an author with the following books:Teacher Teamwork: How do we make it work? (2015)Causes and Cures in the Classroom: Getting to the Root of Academic and Behavior Problems (2013)What Every School Leader Needs to Know About RTI (2010)
Comedy Central’s viral “TeachingCenter” sketch imagines a world where teachers sign million-dollar contracts and students wear their jerseys.
Photo Credit: Walter Limby Mark ThomaAn issue that’s likely to arise in the debates leading up to the next presidential election is preschool education. Among the questions involved: Should preschool programs be available to all children no matter their socioeconomic status? Should America invest in programs such as Head Start or Perry Preschool so that all children can attend? Does any evidence show these programs work?Read the rest of the story at CBS MoneyWatch.
Allison Rodman took time to discuss the personalization of PD for teachers with Dr. Berger.
Photo credit: David Hawgoodby Dr. Francis CollinsWhen children enter the first grade, their brains are primed for learning experiences, significantly more so, in fact, than adult brains. For instance, scientists have documented that musical training during grade school produces a signature set of benefits for the brain and for behavior—benefits that can last a lifetime, whether or not people continue to play music.Now, researchers at Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, have some good news for teenagers who missed out on learning to play musical instruments as young kids. Even when musical training isn’t started until high school, it produces meaningful changes in how the brain processes sound. And those changes have positive benefits not only for a teen’s musical abilities, but also for skills related to reading and writing.Read the rest of the story on the National Institutes of Health Director’s Blog.
Photo Credit: S B F Ryanby Tara E. BuckSouthern New Hampshire University president argues true disruption comes in the form of online, competency-based providers who deftly meet modern students’ — and industry’s — needs.Read the rest of the story on EdTech.
Emily Davis, ASCD Emerging Leader, is the New Teacher Center Program Director, Santa Cruz/Silicon Valley New Teacher Project. Davis is also the author of Making Mentoring Work. Davis stalks about her work and the topics currently driving education. Summary of Making Mentoring Work (published by Rowman and Littlefield): Making Mentoring Work is a practical guide for school leaders interested in beginning or enhancing their mentoring programs for new teachers. Readers can use the mentoring program rubric to pre-assess their program and then choose the chapters that correspond to areas of growth. Each chapter provides background research as well as practical steps and tools to make mentoring work in a school environment. At the end of each section, readers will find discussion guides that support program leaders in making the next steps; organizing conversations with stakeholders that will transform and streamline new teacher support programs; and increase new teacher retention and practice.
P ete Hall, ASCD Faculty member and author, talks about the role reflection plays in ones’ professional development and effectiveness in the classroom. Hall also reminisces about his path from educator to award winning administrator and the impact those experiences have had on his current efforts to support the field.Hall is the former principal of Shaw Middle School, a Title I school in Spokane (Washington) Public Schools. After a teaching career that spanned three states and included primary, intermediate, and middle school positions, Hall served as principal of Anderson Elementary School in Reno, Nevada.When he took over Anderson Elementary in 2002, it was one of the only schools in Nevada to have failed to make Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) for four consecutive years. Two short years later, it was the only Title I school in the state of Nevada to earn a “high-achieving” designation.Hall teaches the capacity-building model of professional development. This emphasizes three things― identifying teachers’ strengths, maximizing their potential, and building their capacity―as a gateway to enhanced student achievement.Hall’s ASCD books, both co-authored with Alisa Simeral, are: Building Teachers’ Capacity for Success: A Collaborative Approach for Coaches and School Leaders (2008) and Teach, Reflect, Learn: Building Your Capacity for Success in the Classroom, released in April 2015.
